Threat to Indigenous languages in French Polynesia

But according to the UN, if nothing is done we'll lose half of those by the end of the century.

Each language carries its own cultural wealth but also important ancestral knowledge - and that's particularly true with Indigenous languages.

Working to save the languages of east Polynesia is one of the goals of Mary Walworth, a PhD student of linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a visiting researcher at the university of French Polynesia.

She says she is also exploring new evidence in the history and archeaology of French Polynesian languages.

Presenter: Geraldine Coutts

Speaker: Mary Walworth, PhD student of linguistics, University of Hawaii, Manoa & visiting researcher, University of French Polynesia

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